FINLANDIA

Stirring Finlandia
Soaring to the skies
As the tall trees
Of primeval forests
Casting shadows
Of melancholy,
rains of plenty,
and rays of light
upon the land
and its people.
Sibelius melodies.
Lonnrot's epic:
Unleashing Kalevala heroes.
Engel's spatial dramas.
Mannerheim's bravery.
Tove Jansson's Moomins:
Mystical and engulfing
As the lovers' embrace.
Sami's Lapland ways:
Singing to trees and reindeer
As worshippers
Stepping into a sanctuary.
Burning bodies in saunas
Melting into icy waters.
All mimic nature:
Sea, farm, forest,
And thousands of lakes.
To tell the world:
We are not Swedes
We wish not to be Russians
We are Finns.

Majid Tehranian
Helsinki, Finland
August 10, 2000